


The Fallout Effect

by purrces



Series: The Fallout Effect [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Other, Pokeball(s), Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Death, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 17:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2396228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purrces/pseuds/purrces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story follows Red through different struggles of a fallout stricken Kanto that is full of mystery, political corruption, and danger. Pokemon in this world are not the cuddly creatures we know them to be and Kanto sure isn't the same either. In this story you will find yourself picking party associations and hopefully connecting with the views of some characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

            Power is in direct correlation to corruption, famine, war, and the destruction of a society. The Kanto Region is no different. Before I was born, my Mother and Father got married fairly young. They met at a dog show. Breeding animals and caring for them were both of their passions. It was love at first sight. They began talking and going on a few dates. Later in their relationship they entered their first contest show as a team. They won by a landslide. In all of the excitement of the crowd cheering and the pride they both felt, he proposed. After they were married they opened their own breeding farm where they bred all kinds of dogs. It was the perfect life. They bred prestigious breeds for shows as well as sold mutts for cheap to provide friendship to passing drifters who had nobody to love. Everyone knew my parents, not just because Pallet was such a small town, but because they made long lasting relationships with the drifters that came through. Their name spread like wildfire across the breeding community, they were soon some of the most well-known, and well respected people in the business. They were very much in love with their success and of course each other. Despite their busy schedule, they were very eager to bring a little breeder into the world.

  My mom named me Red after her grandfather. She wanted me to grow up to be as wise and as caring as he was. The beginning stages of my life are a little fuzzy, everything I know from my early childhood is from my mother’s stories and recollections which sometimes gets distorted by my own opinions. The world was changing as I was being born. My mother saw this as a chance for me to have a compelling destiny. She felt the power that I could have before I was born. Around the time I was born there was an accident at the Nuclear Power Plant off the Coast of Route 10 outside Cerulean City. This spill spread across the Pacific Ocean and caused a reaction at other plants putting the world in a nuclear fallout. The whole world was shoved into bunkers, basements, and storm cellars by their respective governments. The morbid part is not every shelter could handle these levels of radiation and most of the planet died. My mother and Father were separated during the chaos of the accident.  I was delivered in a bunker of a university by a man by the name of Professor Oak, The Dean of The College of Animal Sciences at the university. The only reason I am here today is because my mom risked her life crawling through crawlspaces of the storm bunker in the basement of one of the buildings on campus. My father wasn’t there. He was at a show in another region when the accident happened. My mom was giving a presentation at the university in Pallet. All the news stations played the same gruesome images of people suffocating near the plant. The damage spread quickly. Pallet was given 24 hours to evacuate or find shelter. My mom waited desperately for a phone call from my dad. She expected any second for a private helicopter and her knight in shining armor to take her away. But no such thing happened. Instead she got a voicemail from my dad’s assistant saying that he hopes she can make it on her own. That he wasn’t coming home for her. That he wishes the best for her and hopes she can forgive him. He said that he didn’t think there was a point to come because my mom was as good as dead anyway. That there wasn’t enough time, He said it would be better for all of their work if at least one of them lived.  My mom tells me that he was afraid of death. No, he was a coward. He didn’t even try to come help. He just washed his hands of the entire situation immediately. Rather than thinking of how he can save his family, he decided to save himself. He was afraid of losing everything he had worked for instead of the love of his life, completely oblivious to the fact that my mom is half the reason he had what he had. My mom thinks he might be dead now. I hope with all my heart he is. My mom is my whole world, she risked her life to make sure I was born and that she stayed with me. She was confi1dent that everything would work out and that I would go on and turn into something great, she believed that I could make the world a better place before I was even born. My selfish father decided to leave her. He was supposed to protect her, but his needs were more important to him. He felt that she was dragging him down from being the ‘world’s greatest dog breeder’. He thought that he was the reason for their success and that she was just an accessory. The rumor around town was that he was planning a divorce anyway and was fucking his assistant the whole time. He left my mom behind to watch dogs spawn more dogs, and sell those pups for a profit that he didn’t have to share. That to me is enough evidence to prove those rumors to be true. In my opinion this was the coward’s way of breaking off the marriage, by just letting her, and their son die. He is disgusting; was disgusting.

            The next few years were hell. I didn’t know better really since it was the world I was born into. There were 100 of us crammed in the bowels of the prestigious Kanto University at Pallet. We entertained ourselves with whatever we can find, books, makeshift toys, we told stories. I was a tight community we had built down there. Luckily there was enough canned food and bottled water stored down there for the university’s student union to be able to survive. Not to be full, but survive. When the food rations got low enough, someone got brave.

            “We have been down here for years. We never saw the effects nor do we know what it looks like now. For all we know, we could be the only people down here and our town could be inhabited by other survivor.” The man speaking was Barry, a heavyset older guy who had at one time walked by the beach every night offering words of wisdom to drifters, pedestrians, and sailors coming in from Cinnabar Island.

            He was right. No one wanted to believe him, but he had a good point. I mean the only way we knew how much time had passed was because of a nuclear clock and the tallies etched into the walls. We had to find answers. It was about time to take the risk of dying on the surface so we didn’t have to face death in a dark pit.

Barry to be the one to lead the excursion. He cut the locks keeping the giant steel door separating the storm cellar from the rest of the basement. He walked into the hall. The crowd followed one by one. As we reached the stairwell to the first floor. We all stood in anticipation of Barry opening the small door that separated us from what we knew was safe, and the unknown. The door creaked and we all held our breath, we expected death to barrel through the door and wipe us all out. Nothing happened. There was silence. I let out a cry so loud it made everyone jump. I expected the worst, and when nothing changed, I was more terrified. We all followed in single file behind Barry as we walked up the rusty metal stairs. We reached the top and saw the door in front of us that was blocking our community from the unknown hell outside. We stood about fifteen feet back from Barry with Oak, who led the pack. Barry opened the door and poked his head into the desolate room. Tables were knocked over, glass was broken, papers thrown about the room. It was obvious that the building was looted. It was because of the big steel lock on our side of the door that no one was able to come down to where we were. Barry walked into the lobby of what was Oak’s department. He got a few feet in, stopped, took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly. His eyes darted around the red haze that overtook the room. The ceiling was letting in plenty of light since the other 50 stories of the building appeared to have been ripped off. Everyone thinks it was from microbursts of nuclear storms. Surprisingly most of the walls were still intact, despite some holes and other rubble in some areas of the room. He turned towards us.

“It’s safe” he huffed.

Everyone flocked the room and looked around for supplies. Weapons, food, water, clothing and whatever else they could find. But there was nothing. Regardless of our lack of supplies, we needed to explore outside. We followed the same procedure of lining up and letting Barry take the lead to get out the front door. Once we were out everyone was rushed with the pleasure of fresh air and natural light. This was my first time seeing the outside world. I only ever saw pictures in books my mom read to me down in the bunker under the light of oil lamps. Even though it was mostly ruins, the sight was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, I almost couldn’t breathe, the fresh air felt so good. My eyes stung with the light but I didn’t care. I liked it. The sand and grass under my feet were soft. Much softer than the concrete floors I had known. The feeling was so intoxicating. I stuck my arms out and looked into the sky. I took the deepest breath that I could and let it all rush in. My life was truly about to begin and I couldn’t be more excited. We saw the other half of our building sprawled out across the shoreline, and even some floated in the water. It was almost beautiful to see the sun setting on the horizon of the ocean as the panes of broken glass and metal glistened in the beautiful orange and pink light. It was quiet and peaceful, and everyone felt relieved and joyful despite the destruction. I thought the destruction was beautiful. It was imagery. I was experiencing the beauty that is the earth.

In our moment of peace we failed to see a bird that had to have been at least five feet tall swoop down. We stopped what we were doing and stared into its dark soulless eyes. Fear replaced the tranquility. My body locked up. The bird screamed and it rattled my brains, the screech almost made me deaf. It darted at Barry, before he could react it picked him up in its razor sharp beak, then bit down. The blood and gore that stood before us me too much for words. I stared in horror as this bird ate people that I had known my whole life. I never saw the full faces of the people from the bunker until now. I had only seen dimly lit versions of their faces with the candle and oil lamp lights we had stored. And now I could see their faces in full, lifeless, and bloody. It was too much for me to handle. I stood frozen as the bird kept crunching and swallowing the human bodies that helped raise me.  I can’t remember what sound was louder, the bones crunching in that beast’s beak, the screams of those around me, or my own internal screams as blood splattered on my face, I tried to scream out loud but nothing would come out. The mixture of the iron smell from the air and the shock I was in made me sick and made tears roll faster. I didn’t know what to do. I collapsed and curled up in the dirt, I gave up. Gave up on all hope.

I laid in the path of this giant bird and I posed no fight to it, I was free lunch; this was the end. I will die before I can experience any significant part of my life, besides crawling out of a hole I’ve spent the first five years of my life in. My mom, again risking her life for mine, swatted at the bird with a giant metal spike she pulled out of the ground. The bird fought back, knocking her away with his giant wings. He jumped on top of her and tried to peck and tear away her flesh, but she kept deflecting his blows with that spike. The bird lifted up its head and let out a scream of frustration, then its eyes went wide and its scream cut short. Blood spilled from its beak and it looked down at my mom who had shoved the spike into the bird’s throat. His blood spilled on to my mom’s face and the bird fell on top of her. She shoved his body off of her, leaving the spike in, even twisting it once to make sure that devil was gone. She then picked me up and ran. I can’t say it enough times how much my mom means to me, and this proves that I am as much her everything as she is mine.

“Over here!” we heard a muffled voice yell.

The voice came from a lecture hall next to the building we came from. Mom started running that way clutching me in her arms. I clung just as hard to her as she was to me. I was still in shock and couldn’t process anything that was happening. Not only did I almost lose my own life but I could have lost her while she was trying to protect me. Once inside, I realized everyone who survived the attack congregated to the same place. There were about 200 other survivors that turned this building into a fortress. The barred off windows, boarded up doors, used spikes as traps to keep anything unwelcome from finding its way in. This was going to be our home for a while. We were finally safe with more people that had more food and had a system for actually livable conditions. Two men went outside and got the bird my mom killed, and brought it to the back area of the hall to be butchered and cooked. I snapped out of my daze and I felt safe again, I squeezed my mom’s shoulders harder, she reassured me by doing the same.

“I love you, Red” my mom whispered “more than anything”

“I love you too” I said. I would not be here without my mom. She risked her life twice for me; she suffered for me; she is all I have and I love her more than I can love anything else.

 

 

            Apparently the land outside the bunker had been livable for the past few months. These other survivors had built a shelter in this lecture hall building. The bird creature that attacked us outside was apparently not uncommon. Creatures like that have been what these people have been eating. They would hunt things like that bird, some birds that resembled the giant one, just a little smaller, and some small rats with giant teeth, and cook them. They said that these creatures were normal animals that must have been mutated by the radiation and turned into much larger and more terrifying versions of their past forms.

            The next few years flew by. We were able to build new homes around the small amount of university campus that remained.  The lecture hall was remodeled to be a laboratory for Professor Oak so he could study and try to understand and explain what was happening to the wild life on earth. The radiation also boosted the growth of trees and grass to the point of encasing our small area of the campus in a massive forest. Everything that once stood in the rest of the town had been swallowed by trees and vines. We constantly had to cut down the trees to keep the town we built from being overtaken by them as well. The terrifying thing was that not only were plants growing at an alarming rate, but some plants mutated to the point of even being alive, with animalistic characteristics. Eventually we had to dome off Pallet, too many people were getting hurt and the forest was too much to control. The dome was created by one of the engineers that worked in Oak’s lab. It was put assembled outside by them and everyone else in the town. We were able to make a giant gate at the entrance of the city to allow certain people to leave if need be.  This dome was created to protect the citizens of Pallet from the creatures and plants outside the town. Nothing was allowed in.

            There were a couple tens of thousands of people left in the world. We got word of other survivors across the Kanto Region using an old HAM radio. We were able to use to communicate with other survivors that had the same idea of building a civilization and finding other people still alive. After a while, the rest of the region eventually came up with radios and were able to communicate their existence. There was one radio per city used to communicate important messages across the region. We never got any word from other countries, and assume they are all dead. With that assumption, Oak made himself the lead researcher on the massive creatures and the new world as we know it and began coming up with names and explanations. Not many people liked the idea of one man creating all the answers, but he was the only one with the expertise and qualifications to do this job.

            He called them “Pokémon”. These creatures mutated from actual animals and then proceeded to evolve into more powerful versions of the original mutation the older and more experienced they became, breaking all the rules in the theory of evolution. The one that attacked us the night we left the bunker, is called Pidgeot. It is the most powerful in the line of a bird Pokémon that Oak discovered were related. Pidgey, which is the first evolution is closest to birds we are used to. It still much bigger than regular birds, but a lot less aggressive than the others in its evolutionary line. They are the ones we eat most often. The middle evolution he called Pidgeotto. This was just the beginning of a long index of all the Pokemon species Oak would later discover. He guessed that there could be over 100 new species to be discovered and studied.

            After much research Oak made a discovery that changed the way he could study Pokemon. He discovered that these creatures have a ‘hole’ in their DNA that allowed the Pokémon’s physical mass to be reduced down to its most basic form of atomic particles.  He figured out he could cause this by the administration of a chemical compound of Iodine and Potassium. The same process can be reversed by simply repeating the compound administration. He had a vision of a device that could cause this, and then capture the Pokemon for further study.

            With that, the Poke ball was created-- It is a hinged ball full of the chemical compound mixed with iron. Once the compound is injected into the ball the magnets inside the ball magnetize the solution of Potassium, Iodine, and Iron. The mixture is administered to the Pokemon by injection. When the ball makes contact with the Pokemon, It uses pressure release needles to shoot the serum into the Pokémon’s blood stream. Then the ball opens and the magnetic pull between the magnets inside the ball and the compound now inside the Pokemon causes the Pokémon’s atoms to dissipate into gas form which is pulled inside of the ball. Once inside, the ball steals a bit of the Pokémon’s DNA and applies it to the chemical makeup of the ball. The Pokemon is now tied to that specific ball and can be extracted or put back in, at the command of the one who captured it (Unless the Pokemon dies). Whoever captures the Pokemon not only has control of when it goes in and out of the ball, but also control over the Pokemon themselves. The most interesting part of this is how the iron is implemented to the ball and how the Pokemon can only be controlled by the one who captured it. Before the ball can be used, the capturer must inject a vial of their own blood to the ball to mix with the chemical compound already inside, making the ball theirs. The iron in their blood is how the ball gets the iron it needs to finish the compound. When the ball makes contact with the Pokemon, that blood gets injected into that Pokemon with the rest of the serum being injected. Once inside the ball, the Pokémon’s DNA and your blood intertwine making it tied to you by blood. It now looks at you as family. This gives the Pokemon an everlasting trust with you. It changed the way Pokemon and Humans coexisted.

            Since this creation, Professor Oak has been documenting every Pokemon he encounters every time he travels outside the dome. He never goes far outside the dome but he goes far enough where he will find wild Pokemon without fail every time. He has been documenting height, weight, behaviors, and even been putting them into type classes. So far he has discovered very few type classes. These types were: Normal (these Pokemon were the ones that resembled their original animal form and used attacks most like normal animal aggression), Fire, Water (those two have a self-explanatory typing), Grass (which are not only animals but plants too, and some are even plant and animal hybrids), Flying, and Bug. He believes there are many more he just haven’t discovered them yet. There are also some Pokémon that are too complex to choose just one category and therefore are categorized as a dual-type Pokémon. Each type of Pokémon has attacks that can be used against humans and other Pokemon in a form of battle or self-defense. He sent word of this research over the radios to everywhere he could to help spread the word. After he studies each Pokemon he releases it back into the wild. That is done by holding a button in the center of the ball while the Pokémon is inside. While you hold down the button, the ball will get hot and remove the serum from the Pokémon. The ball will then break open and the Pokémon will be set free.

 

            This news didn’t sit the same way with the rest of the region the same it sat with the citizens of Pallet. All of this information actually divided the entire Kanto region into many political parties. Everyone had their own ideas on how we should deal with the enormous responsibility of coexisting with these creatures. There is The Neutral Party: (which the domed people of Pallet associate with), who believe Pokemon and people are separate and the only interaction should be for research purposes and food. The Harmony Party: Which believes that Pokemon and Humans can coexist, and use each other for benefit of their lives. They essentially live as friends and family with them and use them for help with chores and labor. Then there is the Extinction Party: They believe that all Pokémon need to be exterminated. There is also the Survivalist Party: who believe that Pokemon should be used as survival tool against other wild Pokémon. Then there are the most dangerous, the Traditional Trainers’ Party. This party holds the strong belief that Pokemon should be used as war tools to destroy others and destroy other Pokemon. They also believe that they should rule as an oligarchy across Kanto. These parties are in constant debate and fighting over whose party had the better ideals and who should hold political power.

            One day someone snapped during a protest in Saffron City. A Traditionalist let loose one of his rare Pokémon native to the Fuchsia area of Kanto. Its name was Kangaskhan, and it was a seven foot tall kangaroo mutation that he trained to kill those who stood in his way. In this case it was the Extinctionists that wanted his tools to be taken from him. He commanded his brute to strike down the Extinctionist that was mocking him. The hit had so much force that it cracked his skull nearly in half and almost decapitated him. He died in the middle of the street instantly. This caused chaos across the entire city. People of all parties began killing anyone that moved with guns, knives, crowbars, and anything else they could get their hands on. And most dangerously, some used Pokemon to kill. This added to the death toll. People and Pokemon lay bloody in the streets of Saffron City. Today it is known as the Saffron Massacre. Blood ran down the streets in such high volumes that the storm drains had a hard time draining it away. Clean up crews and Saffron Police used fire hoses to wash the red tint off of the black asphalt and made a mass grave for all the bodies to be burned in. This day was the start of a civil war that has already caused more destruction than the nuclear fallout that should have originally wiped us all out.  The war has been going on for over 10 years now. Luckily, Pallet is still domed in and has been untouched from the effects of war. We are living as a neutral state still a part of the Neutral Party, slowly watching the world around us falter under their own corruption and greed. My mom helps me keep hope. She tells me that no one can get through the dome. She reassures me that we are safe in our quiet town, and because we are not stirring trouble that no one sees us as a threat. Therefore no-one has a reason to attack us. I can see the pain in her eyes though. I can tell she’s thinking about dad. She wishes he didn’t leave, that he stayed to protect her and help her feel safe. She doesn’t say so but I can tell she misses him and hopes he is still alive, despite the fact that I don’t. She hopes one day we can be a family again, that he could hold her in his arms and they could be in love again. But she avoids talking about it. It hurts her heart, and she knows I hate him. Without her I wouldn’t be here, and without me she would have no one. Except for maybe Oak, but this war is getting to him and he is starting to lose it. I would die ten times over for her so she doesn’t have to experience pain ever again. If I ever lost my mom I would be losing the only thing tying me to this place. I live for her and only her. I love you mom. I will protect you. Like my father should have.


	2. The Fallout Effect- Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stir is made in Pallet when a Pokemon finds its way across the dome. Pallet takes an unexpected stance towards this occurrence and the politics of Pallet get shaken up in this upcoming chapter of The Fallout Effect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have not read the prologue, I would highly recommend that you read it first before this chapter to help you better understand what is happening in the story. I hope you enjoy it!! (the-fallout-effect.tumblr.com)

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“Wake up birthday boy!”

 

       My eyes fluttered open. I tried to keep them open as the bright morning sun blasted its way through my window. I tried to recover from the dream that I had. I was dreaming of my dad. I dreamt that he was behind everything, that he was the cause of the world’s problems. I knew that was impossible, but it felt believable. Once I had finally shaken myself awake I noticed it was actually a peaceful morning. The grass swayed in the wind and the buzzing of the electrical current of the dome was almost harmonious with the sound of the town working towards expanding pallet. Buildings, stores, attractions, everything trying their hardest to make it more like the city that used to stand around us. A few food stands acted as restaurants for people to go share a bite to eat without having to dirty their kitchen. There is a market that sells basic necessities imported from cities that were not aggressive towards Pallet. Things in Pallet are actually going really well. There hasn’t been an accident or a Pokemon attack on researchers outside the dome in a few months. Pallet has been getting better and, leads Kanto in research findings. Some other city’s researchers have contributed knowledge outside of our own, but it is rare to see something new from somewhere other than Pallet.

       I stumbled my way downstairs where the smell of fresh Pidgey eggs and cinnamon toast circled around me. It was my 16th birthday and my mom was making my favorite breakfast.

       “I was worried you were going to miss breakfast” my mom said through a giggle

       “Are you kidding, I could never miss your breakfasts!”

       We both burst out in laughter. My mom through her towel she had sitting on her shoulder at me. She isn’t the best cook in the world. In fact we try to avoid her cooking anything. I normally cook the meals if we don’t just go to the food stand in the middle of town.

       “I got you something” she said carrying a neatly wrapped box over to the table.

       “Thank you mom, you didn’t have to get me anything!”

I opened the box and was greeted by the nicest jacket I have ever seen. There was fur on the inside that was warm and comfortable. The outside had very nice, classy leather. I hugged and kissed my mom as she started to clean up.

       “Thank you mom, I love it.”

       “Anything for you Red. Now go enjoy your day. I have some work to do around the house.”

       I put my plate in the sink, put on my new jacket and walked out waving goodbye to my mom.

       Pallet has stayed the same politically over the years since the start of the start of the war. Nothing much has changed in the rest of Kanto either. This luckily means that Pallet has remained neutral through the fighting. Which is thanks to the dome that surrounds the town, keeping us safe from the outside world.

The dome is made of giant posts made of silver and copper, the most conductive of all metals. These posts are about 500 feet apart with every-other post having an electric transformer built into it. An electric current is sent from one post to the other making an electromagnetic field that is actually visible, and since it isn’t made of a solid, air can pass right through, keeping fresh air inside the city. These electric currents are very dangerous however. If someone made contact with it, they would be killed instantly. In the beginning, we didn’t have to hunt. Pokémon would fly through or run through and die of shock. That is how we got our food. But over time they got smarter and we had to adapt by sending hunting teams beyond the dome to hunt for meat. We also had teams of gatherers that would travel outside the dome with guards. They would gather berries, seeds, and nuts. These gatherers would sell half of their inventory in the market, and plant the other half in their garden, to reduce amount of time outside the dome.

       I approached the beach, picked up a rock, and skipped it across the water. The crisp air outside made the hair on my arms stand up. I bundled my jacket up even more to keep me warm. It will be winter soon. The trees are changing color and the mornings are getting colder. Pallet is typically a warmer city being the most southern city, besides Cinnabar. But its winters can be pretty harsh with the moisture from all of the trees and the coast. Watching the waves crashing against rocks and rolling onto the shore is so relaxing and distracting. I could sit here on my big rock platform and watch the horizon all day. It distracts me from all of the anger I have built up inside. If I didn’t find ways to occupy my time, all I could do about my problems is sulk. I’m more mature than that though. Why pout and complain if I can’t do anything about it. It is better to distract myself and enjoy what I have. I have a job to do and that is to be the man of the house.

Once I am distracted and busy, I am actually happy with my current life. My mom is happy, so I am happy. Pallet is safe and we are learning a lot about the world outside Pallet without getting in any kind of danger.

I left the beach to walk through town to find something to treat myself with for my birthday. People waved and smiled, I waved back.  The city square wasn’t very exciting today. It is a big day for me, but to the rest of town it is just another day. I wandered into the market. Nothing seemed to interest me too much here either. Except for the news print that lay neatly in the racks. I picked one up and read the headlines. There was an article about how to protect yourself from a Pidgeot attack. I scoffed at the article. I already know how to survive that. Go for the throat. Their necks aren’t long enough to reach you without exposing their weakest point.

       “Bellsprout, No! Get back inside!”

       I dropped the paper and turned and faced the direction the scream came from. I sprinted towards the sound, hoping everything was okay, but I prepared myself for the worst. There was already a crowd investigating before I could get there, an angry crowd. They were yelling a slur of words that I could hardly make out. Things like: “how dare you”, “you’re going to get us killed”, “that thing needs to go”, some more crude than others but mostly all negative. The woman they were screaming at huddled in the corner of her garden, begging for them to stop. She was clutching a Bellsprout, a plant Pokémon that is grass and poison type. Bellsprout’s eyes looked mortified as it burrowed its face into the woman, it was obvious that it belonged to her.

       “Stop! Leave us alone! He isn’t hurting anyone!” The woman begged the crowd to go away.

       I could see the pain in her eyes. She deeply cared for this creature, and this crowd was only getting bigger. I tried to get some people away and told them to leave her alone and to go away, some pushed me away, others payed no attention. I myself am afraid of Pokemon, but we don’t know this woman’s story, so there is no need for irrational yelling.  Oak stepped in suddenly.

       “Everyone please step away from the woman and her Bellsprout” The uproar that followed Oaks’ statement frightened the woman and Bellsprout even more.

“We will discuss this later tonight at an emergency town hall meeting where she will be put on trial. Until then return to your homes and do not concern yourself with this woman’s business!” Oak’s voice billowed across the crowd that was by now almost up to a good 50 people or so.

As the crowd disappeared, I could not. I stared into the eyes of that Bellsprout as the woman cuddled it and carried it inside. I have never seen fear in a Pokémon’s eyes, only anger. It was almost unnerving to see it in its emotional state. I am afraid of Pokemon for what happened to me. But she is not afraid. I admired her bravery and courage to befriend with a Pokemon. I was curious to see how Oak and the rest of Pallet will handle this new addition to the town. Or if we will not be seeing her or her Pokemon again.

Later that night the whole town, about 500 people or so, piled into a courthouse fashioned out of an old gymnasium. The woman sat on a stand next to Oak who sat at a large desk. The Bellsprout was in her lap.

Oak began his speech.

“This woman is being charged with bringing a Pokémon into her home in the town of Pallet, which categorizes themselves as a neutral state. This party prides itself in not involving Pokemon in their lives other than for research. This research may only be done by research professionals and not individual citizens in their homes. This is to make sure that the war does not come to our doorstep. For the past 10 years that is how we lived. And now this way of neutrality is being challenged. We are here to discuss this.”  

The majority of the town did not like the choice of the word ‘discuss’, and had to give their input of substitutions. The other half sat in silence, watching. Oak silenced the crowd before speaking.

“We will now hear what she has to say, please start with your name”

       “M-my name is Rosalina” she spoke so softly it was hard to hear her over the loudspeaker.

“I don’t think we should avoid Pokemon anymore. They provide so many benefits to us and they can be such loving creatures. Bellsprout has been helping me tend to my garden by keeping insects and weeds away. He is such a good little helper. And he is such a good listener too!”. Her words got stronger, louder, more passionate, almost desperate.

“Please don’t take my best friend away from me. He makes me happy, he helps me grow my beautiful garden, and if everyone else gave Pokémon a chance the way I do... then maybe there could be an end to all of the hate and fighting. Maybe there can be peace again.”

She bowed her head. She was afraid that her words didn’t mean a thing. That the whole crowd had already made up their minds. A tear fell from her eyes and landed on Bellsprout’s head. A tear almost fell from his eye too. He snuggled up into her and they both let out a cry.

“How do you expect me to live with these things that have killed so many people, and caused a war that is tearing this world apart?” A voice blurted from the back of the room.

Rosalina was immediately very defensive.

“Pokemon are only aggressive if they feel threatened in the wild, and if they are trained to be killers!”

“How did you obtain Bellsprout? I am just curious.” Oak interjected.

“I stole a poke ball from one of your offices…I believe that Pallet can’t be neutral forever and since they are only mass produced and sold outside of Pallet, I figured if I stole one, I had it just in case.” I could see the shame in her words about stealing.

“But one day when I was out collecting seeds right of the dome, I saw Bellsprout crawl out of the bushes. He looked hungry and scared. I approached him with some berries I had and he ate from my hand. I looked around to make sure none of the guards were watching and I gently tossed the ball at him. After the capturing process was complete, I let him out and he jumped into my arms. He was so happy to be mine. To be my friend.”

Oak silenced the murmurs in the crowd once again.

“Although I do not condone stealing. I must say that the bond between Rosalina and her Bellsprout is something that cannot be broken and there is nothing that I can do to break them apart... I have actually done much pondering on this subject myself lately. I do believe, in my professional opinion, that Pallet is not strong enough to be neutral forever. So, why wait for that day to come. With that being said, before everyone in Pallet, I announce that Pallet is now a state belonging to the Harmony Party. I will be getting in touch with other members of the party to share the news with them. It will not be mandatory for citizens of Pallet to have a Pokemon, but if you want one. You may have one.”

There was an uproar across the room. People were angry, people were happy, it was complete chaos in one building. I am happy they get to be together, It’s obvious that they love each other. I can see the need for each other in both of their eyes. They remind me of my mom and I.

“I will hear no arguments. This is an executive order. If you do not like this decision, then do not own a Pokemon. It is that simple. The dome will remain standing to ward off anyone that will try to attack us. I can assure you there is nothing to worry about.” The joy on Rosalina’s face was inspiring. And Bellsprout I could tell was happy too.

“Did you hear that Bellsprout?! We get to be friends forever!” Rosalina’s tears changed from fear, to pure joy as her and Bellsprout embraced as tight as possible.

A bright white light suddenly lit up the room, nearly blinding everyone. The light was coming from Bellsprout as he started floating in the air. The light got brighter until it hurt even if your eyes were closed. The room returned to normal. There was something in Bellsprout’s place that started floating back to Rosalina. Oak and the rest of the crowd stood in awe.

“Your love and joy for being able to be with Bellsprout was enough power to cause it to evolve!” Exclaimed Oak.

“I had studied it a thousand times but never actually seen it before. Your Bellsprout is now a Weepinbell, congratulations!”

“Aw! I love you Weepinbell.” Rosalina and Weepinbell Held each other close. The happiness of those two was enough to silence the crowd. They couldn’t believe what they had seen.

 

       Oak started sending some of his professionals out with people to catch their own Pokemon. Poke balls were now being sold in the market, just like everywhere else in Kanto, so that everyone who wanted a Pokemon could get one. I didn’t want one. I was still a little untrusting of them. My mom felt the same way. Weepinbell and Rosalina were happy but neither of us knew how to care for a Pokemon. Plus we had each other and that is all I really needed.

 

~~~~

 

       Pallet was in a flourish of new Pokemon living in the town. For the most part everyone was taking the change better than I had expected. My opinions have changed the more educated I’ve become. I now think Pokemon are interesting. Before, when we first made it out of our bunker, I hated them and wanted them all dead. But I realize now that it isn’t all their fault. They didn’t ask to become what they are, It just happened to them.

I have been hanging around Professor Oak a lot lately too. He has made me his apprentice, and My mom found a job as a doctor. She doesn’t know much about being a doctor. But she is the only one who is certified with first aid and CPR in Pallet. If someone is sick or injured they go to her first, if she cannot help them, the patient is transported by an armed team of guards to the nearest hospital in Vermillion City to be treated. Many of them don’t return to Pallet. Which is why my mom is so important to the city to make sure we keep as many people in as possible. This also means that she is away from home a lot.

Oak has always been a father figure to me. I don’t love him the same way I love my mom. But I do appreciate all that he has done for us. And admire him as a leader of Pallet.  I go to his lab everyday, early in the morning when my mom is leaving for work. I have been studying different ways to categorize Pokémon. Oak thinks I am doing great and I enjoy his feedback on my work. Lately he has been training me using hands-on research with Pokemon to help with documenting physical attributes of each Pokemon that could be encountered. Oak has many Pokémon for me to study, but my favorite is Eevee. Eevee has a great work ethic when getting any kind of task done, whether it be in completing a task or defeating an enemy. His persistence reminds me of myself. I think that’s why I enjoy studying him so much. Oak says that Eevee can evolve into several different Pokémon depending the environment that it reaches the experience and strength enough to evolve. This is what I find most fascinating about him, that what it can evolve into helps define its personality and traits. The day Oak let me pet and hold Eevee was one of the most eye opening moments of my life, I had never touched a Pokemon before. I had become less fearful and vengeful towards them the more I studied, but actually touching one was a big line to cross. I stretched my arms out to Eevee. He jumped into my arms and licked my face, It scared me little just because of my conditioned fear of Pokémon. His fur was soft, and his heartbeat and breath against my arms brought me to reality that Pokémon are true living creatures in our world. It dawned on me, not all Pokémon are bad. Pokemon can be loving, friendly beings.

       Eevee wasn’t actually mine but anytime I went over to the lab, Oak let me take him out of his ball and play with him while we did our research. Oak and I looked up to each other. But he looked up to me in a different way I looked up to him. I admired Oak’s decision making ability, and perseverance in making the world and Pokémon coexist without violence. Everyone took a chance in allowing Pokémon into Pallet without revolting. Everyone trusted Oak whether they were conscious of it or not. And we were right to. Pokemon were in Pallet and the earth hasn’t caved in. It is baby steps but I think one day love of Pokemon and humans can stop the war. Stop the fighting. But only if people can grasp the concept of coexisting. These are traits I hope to develop from him so that I could one day lead the way he does. Oak looks up to me in the sense that he feels that I can be the one to get the point across to the world. He knows he can’t complete the research on Pokemon. But I think secretly he wants me to be the one to complete it for him.

       I know it isn’t my responsibility to stop the war and research Pokémon. But I would absolutely love to hold that title. I want to get away from Pallet and train Pokémon to be my friends. I want to abolish the hate around Kanto and bring this war to an end. I dream of making an electronic encyclopedia of all Pokémon and their statistics, typing, and any other facts that could want to be known about that Pokémon. This will help people become educated on Pokemon and be less afraid, just like me.

       I have also been taking up exercise and strength building to pass time. It allows me to safely let out aggression and it helps keep me in shape, in case I ever had to go to war. It distracts me in a different way than going on walks does. It allows me to overcome mental struggles that I have and puts me above them. I become psychologically better than my weaknesses and I use them to my advantage to make myself a better person.

 

~~~

 

       It has been about a month since the arrival of Pokémon in Pallet. I was going through my morning routine of taking the long way to Oak’s lab, walking down the beach and through the neighborhoods. I always appreciate my walk down the beach. I enjoy seeing families swimming with their pet Poliwag, a tadpole Pokémon. Or seeing a Butterfree, a butterfly Pokémon, pollinating my neighbor’s gardens. Everything was even more peaceful in Pallet now that there isn’t an unknown threat around us about Pokémon. Everyone is getting a better understanding about which Pokémon are aggressive in the wild, ones that are beneficial to the town, and ones who make incredible pets.

I approached the lab and saw Oak and a few of his aids outside gawking at a rather large poster on the side of his building. The image was offensive. It was a propaganda poster that plastered Rosalina dead in her garden with Weepinbell over her, covered in her blood, with the most horrifying expressions. At the bottom of the poster it read:

‘Your Pet Will Be Your Downfall: Kill All Pokemon’

       “Extinctionists? In Pallet?” one of Oaks aids shared his confusion out loud.

       “What is this?” I asked walking up to join the group.

       “It appears we have a threat living in Pallet. Someone please go to Rosalina. Assure that she does not get hurt and that her Weepinbell is also safe. It seems as though even though Pallet is a Harmony state... There are snakes in town.”

       I could see the fear in his eyes. He knew what this meant. There was an underground rebellion of the Extinctionist party starting in Pallet. And this was their first strike.

       The party system in Kanto is facing some changes. The Survivalist Party and the Harmony Party joined together as one and combined their already similar ideals to double their size as a party. The Extinction Party still remained the same. And the Traditionalist Trainers Party grew in numbers as promises of power to each member spread like wildfire in Kanto. They also changed their name to the Elite Party. This leaves only three parties left in all of Kanto. The Harmonists, the Extinctionists, and the Elitists.

       “What are we going to do about this?” I asked Oak as he bowed his head in front of the poster.

       “We wait for the uprising. And do what we can to survive. The Extinctionists are a radical group. They don’t stop unless they succeed and get what they want, or die trying. They don’t necessarily want Pokémon dead solely out of hate, most do, but not all. Some just think that the world would be better off without them. I’m afraid the Pokémon we have in Pallet are not strong enough to survive an uprising. And Extinctionists have no problem killing humans that protect Pokemon.” Oaks words fell out of his mouth as if he was afraid of this happening when he changed the state of Pallet.

       “It’s not your fault” I reassured him in a low voice. “And I think we can stop this.”

He said nothing as he walked towards the door of his lab.

I had a delay following behind as I tried to take the poster off the wall but it wouldn’t budge. The adhesive they used was too strong to remove it.

       I ran into the lab with enough time to see Oak slam his office door behind him. He let out a yell that almost shook the door to his office. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards the sound. There was crashing from inside the office, the sound of glass shattering, wood splitting, the door flew open and papers were flung out the door.

“How could I allow this to happen?! How could I let my city down like that?! I was supposed to create a safe environment for them, and I fucked everything up! Why do people have to be so difficult! How could I have let my reputation fall in such a way?” He stormed out of his office radio in hand.

       “Attention Harmony Party affiliates.” He was tuned into the Harmony Party frequency “Pallet is in a state of emergency. There is an underground Extinctionist movement in Pallet. Please do not send in reinforcements. We will try to handle it alone to keep the casualties low. I just want to warn everyone that our party might be overthrown.” he let the radio fall to the floor. He walked back into his office and slammed the door.

       The workers in the lab that did not know about the poster outside were shocked and murmured among themselves. It was still early enough in the morning that not enough people are out of their houses yet for anyone to notice the poster. Oak came out of his office with a blowtorch. He shoved the door open. I followed him to help clean off the side of the building. He blasted the poster with the torch and watched as it fell to the ground in front of him in a heap of embers. He didn’t seem to care that some landed on him. The physical burn he got from them was probably unmatched by the burning fear he had for the fate of his city. Luckily he destroyed the poster before anyone could see it. I picked up the burned remains and stomped them into the dirt. I lost touch and stomped hard, pounding my foot into the ground. My anger took over. Just as things were settling down, someone has to go and ruin everything. Why can’t people just get over their differences?!

       I stared into the dirt. It had grey mixed into the soil from the ashes of the poster that could lead to the destruction of the city. Oak and I were approached by a young man, a bit older than me, who was short of breath from running.

       “You have to see this” he huffed.

       He took off. Oak and I followed right behind him. Once in the town square we saw that smaller, pamphlet sized, versions of that poster were everywhere. On people’s doors, on light posts throughout town, spread out on tables, tossed on the floors. People were wandering into the square with them in hand and a troubled look on their faces. Oak stood on top of a table in the middle of the square and addressed the crowd.

 

       “Everyone please listen. There is an underground rebellion of Extinctionists in Pallet. I advise that you all go home and protect yourselves, your families, and your Pokémon. We do not know how many people are in the rebellion and we are unaware of their goals or intentions other than to kill your Pokémon.”

       The crowd lashed back with comments about ‘what does he expect them to do’. And ‘there is nowhere for us to hide’. They were right. If these people were already in Pallet, hiding would do no good. They would attack regardless and there is nothing we could do.

 

From the back of the crowd a voice boomed over everyone elses with the aid of a megaphone.

 

“KILL ALL POKEMON!” this voice was followed by many more after a while there was a significantly large crowd of people marching into the town square, chanting these daunting words. These people were holding torches, knives, bats with spikes. A few had guns. One of the men took aim with his rifle. He pulled the trigger and the Butterfree that I had watched tend to his flowers hit the ground, his blood pooling around him. Butterfree’s lifeless eyes stared into my soul. I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, it happened all too fast. Regular citizens lashed back with their Pokémon and whatever they could pick up off the ground to use as weapons. I watched, frozen, as the man who fired the first shot was impaled by a wooden stake from a fence that someone had used as a spear. I couldn’t move. I had flashbacks to the first night in Pallet when that Pidgeot attack us. But this time it was other humans killing each other. Pokemon and Humans were dying left and right. Just like the Saffron Massacre, people and Pokemon were lying bloody in the street. People were unable to get to their homes and hide from the mass fighting going on in the Pallet square and protect themselves. I snapped out of my daze and deflected a few blows that came towards me, I punched back, sending a violent extinctionist protester back a few feet, buying me enough time to deflect another. I shielded Oak who was defenseless and helped him escape. Oak and I ran to the fire escape of his building and climbed to the roof. From there we hid and watched as people scattered. I tried to count the bodies. About a quarter of the town lay dead in the middle of the square, both Extinctionists and Harmonists, Pokemon included.

 

       Where is mom? Where is she? I was frantically trying to find her. I was scanning the entire horizon trying to pick out her face in the sea of fighting and fleeing. I finally spotted her. She was taking cover on the side of a building.

 

       “Mom!”

I quickly climbed down the side of the building, Oak trying to stop me. Once I was low enough to not hurt myself, I jumped to the ground and sprinted towards her. Luckily there was less fighting and more fleeing from both sides of the fight. It felt like an hour had past but it had only been about 5 minutes. I grabbed my mom by the wrist and led her with me to safety. We couldn’t run with me holding on to her, I let go of her hand and kept running hoping she could keep up. She couldn’t. I turned to see that she was too far behind me. I should have kept holding onto her. As I started back towards her I saw a man with a heavy hatchet cock his arm and take aim at my mom. My eyes went dark. My voice went hysterical.

 

       “Mom look out!”

 

She fell to the ground. My whole world went silent. There was not a sound I could hear. ‘My life is over’ was all I could think. I lifted my head. Tears swelling in my eyes. I expected to see the most horrific sight I had ever seen. But I did not. My mom was okay. When I saw her fall it was because she tripped trying to dodge the man’s hatchet. But she did not move. Neither did he. The whole city fell still and silent. That’s when I realized the reason behind the silence.

       That man’s Hatchet had missed my mom, but it hit one of the transformers keeping the dome activated. The transformer was destroyed. The silence I heard was not out of fear or shock clouding my senses. It was of the silence that was caused by the absence of the hum of the electrical current keeping our city from the outside world.

       There was an uprising in Pallet, and there was no longer anything protecting us from the outside world. The Dome had failed.

 

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the-fallout-effect.tumblr.com

*****  
I am not used to hiding. I used to be a symbol of peace, of light and guidance. But my actions have destroyed my reputation. I wanted so badly to let Pokémon into our world, for humans and Pokémon to love each other and embrace the spirit of this world that has fallen into our lap. Since my dome fell, we have been looted, attacked, and chased from our homes by either of the opposing parties. The elitists and Extinctionists both use the Harmonists as a punching bag, and to put it as blatant as possible, use us to train their armies. They know we are not strong enough to make a stand. But we sure as hell try. Pallet has been reduced to only a few families. The gardens that once were lush and green and beautiful, have no returned to their desolate state they were in after we emerged from underground years ago. Red often comes by still to check on me and Eevee. All of the other Pokémon ran away, but Eevee and Red had a special bond.  
One day Red came by and took Eevee out on a run. I told him it was dangerous, but he seemed not to care. That boy’s skin is so thick, it is unimaginable. His whole life he has only known death and despair, that this was not impacting him as much as his mother or myself. He knows nothing of the way things used to be. Before the accident Kanto was so lively with festivals and gardens. The other regions were at least around. Johto now only exists as a military base for the Extinctionist Party, mostly the people of Johto were already for those ideals. If they weren't, they jumped on the bandwagon, or were executed. The same goes for Hoenn. The Hoenn region is where the Elite Party set up their base. Kanto is considered the Harmony Party base, but we do not have an army to train, we only run and hide and fight them off when we can. If either of these two parties take control over Kanto, they would rule over all of what is left of the world. The Harmony Party needs to step up and rather than defending our beliefs, we must actually try to win this war, or it will be the end of peace forever. I haven’t left my office for the few weeks that our dome has been down. We need a plan but it is near impossible to escape. At this point, I have accepted this as my tomb. I can never escape.  
I have intercepted a broadcast from the Extinctionists. They will be attacking tonight. With nothing to lose, I figured I could make any difference that I choose. Let them come, and them burn.

*******  
Life has been dim for the past few weeks. Just like my early childhood. I have gotten used to this feeling so it is not much of a bother to me anymore. Oak has not left his office, I have not seen him, only heard him whenever I went to see Eevee. My mom doesn't say much. We help each other hide in our basement whenever either of the enemy parties attack. She feels empty. I can tell. I do not know much else in my life. I have had only a few years of mild peace when Pallet was shut in and prosperous. In only a few weeks, everything we have built has been destroyed. A lot of people have left Pallet, the ones who didn't wish they have. We couldn’t we felt safer at home because we had no idea what was beyond those shattered gates. Each night we have no idea if we will become prisoners of war, or dead.  
I am the only one left in Pallet that is not constantly depressed. I am not affected by the darkness that surrounds what is left of this town.

****  
I woke up with the sun shining through my window, Snow was on the ground. I hate days where it is sunny but still freezing. It gives a false hope. Most of the smoke from attacks has died down, so it was actually clear outside. I went downstairs my mom was making breakfast in silence. The TV was on but muted. I saw on the screen an army of extinctionists marching with giant guns in their arms. The headline read: “Extinction Party Marches South”. We were expecting another attack. They aren’t even trying to hide it. They know we don’t have much to lose, there were only about 50 people in their squad heading towards us. By morning Pallet will become owned by Extinctionists. The darkest part of the images I saw on the screen, were some of my old neighbors who I grew up seeing every day, actually leading the army that was coming to kill my mother, myself, and Oak.  
“Turn that off Red”. My mother spoke in a way I never heard before.  
“Mom, I am fine, I can handle it. We can make it through this one just like all the others.”  
“Don’t talk back to me Red! Turn the fucking TV off!” her voice shook my spirit, I was suddenly thrown into the pit of reality of how big this really was. All it took was for my mom to be mad at me for the first time in all of my life. The feeling of un-comfort towards my mom was new, and disgusting. I felt sick as her words nearly brought me to tears. I do not get as emotional as I used to. I can handle situations, I protect my mom, and I stand at the front of fights to make her feel safe. Just as she used to for me. As I get older I rely on her less, but I still love her just as much, if not more. She relies on me now. I get our food, I fix our home, I do everything for her and she does everything for me.  
“I am sorry I snapped Red, I love you” She takes me into her arms and I let a single tear fall off of my cheek.  
“It is okay, I understand”. I dry my eyes and bring back my composure.  
Breakfast tasted good, but felt hollow. I did not feel my body energize as it normally does after a good meal. I knew that it was possibly my last meal. I will fight tonight. I am not going to just sit back and allow myself to be taken. And I will not let my mom die. I need to find Oak and get him to help me fight.  
I kiss my mom on the forehead and tell her that I am going to go get Oak. I threw on my coat and start towards his building. It started raining. The sky was so grey that it was almost black. The snow under my shows was becoming slush with the freezing rain being dumped from the sky. I started to run. At any point we will be attacked. I had no idea when that recorded newscast was actually recorded. It could have been an hour ago, or it could have been almost a day ago. There was no way to tell. A few times I almost slipped and fell in the slush. My feet were nearly frozen solid. I could hardly control my legs. They felt numb. I could not distinguish fear from pain due to the cold. I think it was a mixture of both.  
I finally reached the town square. I was close to his building. Just as I was about to dash through the center to the other-side of town, I noticed a light off in the other direction. I hid behind the remains of what used to be a store. It was the Extinctionists. That means the newscast was older than I thought. I could see the flashlights of the enemy coming closer. There was no time. It was too late. There would be no fight, no battle, only survival. They approached the gates and pulled out a set of charges, locked them onto the gate, and stepped back. The gates blew open. This was my only chance to try to make a break for it. I stood up and my vision went grey. I was running blind, hoping I wasn’t seen and gunned down before I could make it. I slid behind a wall in front of Oak’s laboratory. I was soaked. Covered in water from the rain, and ice from sliding everywhere. My whole body was numb from the cold.  
I poked my head up to see if I was clear to make it to the front door. I could see them standing in their formation in the very center of town square. I saw a megaphone being passed from the back to the man leading the pack.  
“We are giving everyone here one last chance to give in and join our cause! Tonight there will be no prisoners, only new tributes, or new corpses.”

My heart sank into my chest. This was it. I need to find safety for the people I love. Oak and my mom need to get out of here and I will help cover them. But again, I was too late. As I approached Oaks building. A megaphone shot out a horrifying message.  
“Extinctionists! You have come to take what is ours. But what you don’t know is that you can never have what we’ve built. You can burn our city, and kill my people. But you will never have our souls. Our souls will go in peace because tonight, you will not be taking our lives, we will be taking yours, as well as our own.”  
I could see Oak standing on the roof of the building, thick strands of wire circled the building and wrapped around its entirety. He was holding a device with in his hands that connected all of those wires together. After the echo left the walls of the broken buildings, nothing could be heard except for freezing rain drops hitting the floor, and stone. I pushed through, running harder and faster. His door was locked.  
I braced myself and smashed through the glass, and started for the stairs.  
“I have to stop him” I thought “I cannot let him blow himself up. He cannot break himself down to their level and give them what they want. Eevee saw me and started off after me. He jumped into my arms and I started carrying him. We made it up a few flights to about the 4th floor. The roof was above the 9th. All of the windows on the fourth floor were open. We had to get across the room to get to the second flight of stairs to get us to the top. I got halfway across the room before I stopped.

“The captain always goes down with his ship. In this case it is my town. I had so much faith in my people and for the world to become a better place. But I went too far. I made my people suffer the ultimate price.”  
I took off again.  
“I cannot let him do this”  
I burst through the door on the roof and Eevee jumped out of my arms.  
“Oak stop this!”  
“Red I am sorry, I let everyone down, and I must do this. It is what I deserve”  
“No it is not! This is not what you want! Think of what this town meant to you, think about all of our accomplishments!”  
The rain was much more intense on the roof. I could not tell if I was shaking from freezing or out of fear. Here I stood, on the roof of Oak’s Lab, rigged with explosives. Trying to get him to not blow up the town just to make a statement.  
“Red, I’ve always admired you. But it is over. For both of us.” He turned towards me, facing away from the ledge. “But you cannot be so stupid as to not see that this is the end. We are done. Nobody gives a damn about science, or about humanity.”  
The soullessness in his eyes was all too real. I could tell his mind was already made up. My eyes teared up this time. And now I was definitely shaking out of fear. Eevee jumped into my arms.  
My voice lowered, sounding more desperate. “Please Oak, think of Eevee. Think of me, hell think of my mother. You two were inseparable. I could tell you two actually loved each other. I didn’t say anything because I wanted it to happen. You were already like a father to me and I love you like a father. Please don’t do this!”  
In a split second a shot rang out through the air, piercing all sound. A bullet went straight through him. His stomach turning red.  
He fell to his knees, placed his hand over his stomach and looked at the blood. He looked back up at me. “I’m sorry Red” Tears filled his eyes as he slammed the button on his device. He fell dead on the floor, and the building began to shake. I stood frozen as the sound of explosions around me on the roof burned the hair on my neck. Eevee bit my leg to snap me out of my fear induced trance. I started to run back towards the stairwell door, Eevee right behind me. We made it to the second floor with the building in flames and concrete falling everywhere, almost crushing us with every step. We got to the end of the stairwell that led to the first floor, but the stairs had fallen. I had to jump. I jumped and landed on my feet, but the momentum crippled my knees under my weight, making my arms hit the floor. I rolled over and got up and turned to Eevee. He was about to jump, but a wall of flame swallowed him as he leapt. He flew as a fireball across the room and that fire ball hit a wall, adding to the destruction. I didn’t know what to do, if I should try to save him or save myself. I decided to save myself. I started towards the door when the fireball that engulfed Eevee burst into a small explosion. It knocked me down. And I blacked out. I woke up a few moments later. I opened my eyes and the rain was falling down, harder now. I could not figure out how I got outside. I looked over towards the burning ruins that used to be a state of the art scientific lab. Nothing that just happened was real. Oak killed himself to try to kill the Extinctionists that came to attack us. I am not sure if it worked or not. I don’t feel real. I had just lost the closest thing I had to a father. I looked around for Eevee. Then I remembered he didn’t make it out.  
Something caught my eye. A small perfectly shaped flame was poking out behind a section of uprooted concrete and steel. It quickly disappeared. It was then replaced by part of a face. It was Eevee’s face. Eevee was alive, he was huddled underneath some ruble, shielding himself from the rain. But it wasn’t really Eevee. The intense heat made Eevee evolve into Flareon! I couldn’t believe it. Eevee had not only survived the blast, but he evolved and then saved me from being burned alive in the inferno. The entire time that Pallet has accepted Pokemon, I knew I would never have a Pokemon of my own. But it was nice to hang out with Eevee. He was already my best friend, and times have changed. He will now be by my side all of the time, forever. I decided that Flareon is now my own Pokémon. I had to take him, he had nowhere to go. He needs me and honestly, I need him. I pulled a Pokeball I had to study out of my backpack and put Flareon in it to shield him from the rain. I have to go to my mom and make sure she is okay.  
I could see that the blast did in fact kill a few Extinctionists, but not enough to make an impact on the fight. I still can’t wrap my head around what Oak had done, and how I almost died with him. The Extinctionists were searching houses. There would either be people pulled out and shoved into trucks, or there were gunshots. There would then be a small explosion as the house was destroyed. I got worried. My mom was alone. I left her all alone. I should have been smarter than that. I suck past a few of them until I got to the field by my house. I saw a handful of them walk out of my house. My heart jolted into my throat. The pulse in my throat was so intense, I almost threw up. My legs stumbled and I fell. I lay in the mud and watched as they set charges on the door, and blow it up.  
I looked down into the mud and ice, tears in my eyes. I fought to stand up and started limping as fast as I could towards my home. The Extinctionists got in their truck and drove off. My breath was short, I could not tell if I was more angry, or mortified. Again my vision was grey and blurry, I felt as though I was going to pass out. The rain was so heavy it hurt my skin. My mind was so numb that the sound of the rain also hurt my ears. The pulse in my ears matched the one in my throat. I reached the pile of dust, soot, and rubble that once was my house. I was in utter disbelief. I stared waiting for something to change in the imagery that I saw.  
“PLEASE NO, I CAN’T LOSE YOU!” I cried out. I felt my voice cut short with the lack of oxygen in my lungs, and the heavy soundproofing of the pounding rain. Thunder cracked above me and lightning lit up the night sky in a web of blue and purple. I saw movement.  
“MOM!” She was alive.  
I limped to the spot where I saw movement and started flinging rocks and boards out of the way. Trying desperately to find her. I lifted a large concrete brick, which exposed my mother, trapped under rubble.  
“Mom! It’s me! I’m here!”  
“Red, I am trapped I can’t move!”  
I tried to lift the rocks and other rubble that was pinning her down. I couldn’t. They were too heavy, they wouldn’t budge. I got frustrated and scared I would grab objects and smash the boulders with them. I was desperate. Tears welled up and rolled off of my cheeks from both eyes.  
“No, I can’t lose you too!”  
I went back to trying to lift, her hand fell on my arm.  
“Red, stop”  
“Mom, no! We can get you out of here.”  
“Red listen to me. I can’t go any further, even if you can get me out of here, we won’t make it to the hospital fast enough, and I won’t make it. I can already feel myself starting to go.”  
“Mom...-”  
“Red, please, just go. I want to die alone. It is the way I was destined to go. I can’t let you watch me die. You have seen enough death in your life. Please don’t let mine be one of them.”  
“I am not leaving you!!! Please we can get you out of here we can be safe, you can make it”  
I was beyond desperate. I was hurting myself trying to get the rubble off of her.  
“Red, I love you. More than anything, I love you. I know you can do great things and turn this world around. I wish your dad was here. He would be so proud of everything you have done. But now it is time for you to be brave.” I took her hand “Be brave for me Red, Make me proud. I-..” She grimaced in pain and coughed. Blood dripped from her mouth.  
“I-…I love you Red. You made my life worth living. Now go live yours. Make everyone else’s lives worth it. Go, be brave. I love you.”  
Her grip got weaker, until she let go. Her head fell limp. She was gone. I lashed out in rage. I ran out into the middle of our field and fell to my knees in the mud. The rain falling all around me. The rain started to let up. I sat there in the mud on my knees staring at the ground. The rain stopped. I looked up at the sky. I had just lost the most important person in my life. I imagine I would be much more upset. But in reality, I just felt numb. I couldn’t feel a thing. I was in pure shock.  
I knew I had to leave. I had to find shelter somewhere. I took Flareon’s ball out of my bag and let him out. He looked up at me. He knew. He pulled on my pant leg signaling me to move. He was right. We had to leave. I just couldn’t live with the fact I am leaving the only place I had ever known. Leaving my mother’s body in our destroyed home. I felt physically sick. It made me throw up. I looked down at the rubble in my front yard. I saw something shining through the mud. It was my mother’s wedding ring. I picked it up and tied it to a thin strand of rope in my backpack and tied it to my neck, and tucked it into my shirt. Flareon started walking towards the gates. And I followed. I stopped at the exit of pallet and turned around. I stared into the darkness of the city. Smoke and ash floated in the air. Flareon pulled on me again. Pallet has been reduced to rubble. Everything that we had built has been destroyed. Science did not matter anymore. I need to make this better. I need to survive. I turned towards the road and began walking towards Viridian City, with Flareon by my side.

**Author's Note:**

> I will post links to all chapters on my tumblr page (the-fallout-effect.tumblr.com) go follow it. Commenting and asks are always allowed! do not be shy I love to hear opinions, postings will happen once every other week. If things go well there could possibly be one a week sometimes but mostly going to be once every other week.
> 
> Enjoy, and please follow and share for updates.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Also: I do not own pokemon or any of the names used in this story. They are all references pulled from all Pokemon related media


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